Clever Swedish Tool Designs that are Hard-to-Find in America

To an American, the old-world European way of doing business can be frustrating to encounter. You have these companies making incredibly refined, sophisticated products, yet their websites are from the '90s, they often lack high-res video demos on their YouTube channels, and many do not bother distributing in the 'States.

At the Holz-Handwerk show I snapped up the very last 808050P Ratcheting Screwdriver at the Bahco booth, as it's not currently for sale here in the 'States (even though the Bahco brand is owned by U.S-based Snap-On!). At press time there was no demo video of this new product on their website, so I just shot a rather lousy one at my workbench. Check it out:

If you've never heard of Bahco, they're a Swedish tool company whose founder invented the adjustable wrench way back in the 1890s. Today they make over 7,000 hand tools, many of them highly specialized. Like this sweet nail-puller:

Or this pair of electrician's pliers that transfer the bulk of the force towards the base of the blades, rather than the tips:

Watch this shamefully low-res video of their modular handsaw design:

And this ratchet that can get into really tight spaces:

Something that drew considerable interest in the booth at Holz-Handwerk was this belt-worn, insulated electrician's ratcheting screwdriver with interchangeable bits. Fast-forward to 0:47 to see how it's meant to be used:

Sorry, my Yankee friends, there's no word on when cool toys like the 808050P will make it to our shores; I mean just look at their English-language website, for chrissakes. Makes me want to have a snap-off with Snap-On.

7 Comments

Hipstomp: I don't see anything about the side cuts not being hinged at a single point. I think their selling point is that the cutting edge is smaller at the tip than the base. I'm pretty sure the maximum force in this and any other single pivot pliers is at the base of the jaws, not the tips.

They improved the nail puller for sure, but largerly copied the idea from Hultafors Atle. While you looking that up, check out the Hultafors youtubechannel for even more Swedish innovative handtools also not available in US.

I have a ratchet screwdriver that does most of what that one does. it is not as well made, actually it's broken, but I think it cost three pounds, has been used as a hammer as well, and I've had it 10 years. it doesn't pivot into a pistol-grip like that one, but how many times are you really going to use that?

A reminder that this planet came with just rocks, water, grass and trees. Everything else, we made

When Toshio Tokunaga needs irons for his selection of kanna (handplanes and spokeshaves), he turns to Master Smith Yasuhiko Ohara to have them made from scratch, the traditional Japanese way. Which as it turns out, is quite the pain in the ass—because Japan doesn't have any iron mines. With no

Before this man designs his furniture, he designs his tools

Sandpaper has to be the number one consumable in the modern-day furniture shop. But a subset of craftspeople, like Toshio Tokunaga and his four apprentices, don't use any of the stuff—yet are still able to achieve a glass-like finish on their furniture pieces, even absent varnish. Anti-sandpaper furniture builders achieve

This flexible, water-filled silicone sack is much more useful than metal fingers

Mechanical robot grippers are designed to grasp specific shapes. This is perfect for assembly lines, where every object is the same. But what if a more flexible solution were required? Think of a conveyor belt covered with random junk that needed to be sorted for recycling: Imagine a robot hand

A Wacom, Photoshop and CAD underlays make these renderings pop

Later this year Leatherman will be releasing the Signal, a multi-tool specifically aimed at the outdoorsman/outdoorswoman. After interviewing survivalists, campers, hikers, hunters and fishers, the design team came up with a tool containing "pliers, saw, can and bottle opener, awl, removable pocket clip, hammer, replaceable wire cutters, a variety of